Reading Improvement with Davis program

Question:

How much will reading improve after the one-week Davis Dyslexia Correction program?

Answer:

The level of improvement with a Davis program is variable, depending on the age of the client, the degree to which the child or adult was struggling before commencing the program, and individual factors which influence rate of progress.

However, it is very common that a child who completes a Davis Dyslexia Correction program will be able to read at or near expected level for their age at the end of a five-day program. In many cases the student will be reading above grade level, even if the child was many year behind grade level at the outset.

In almost all cases there will be noticeable improvement over the course of the program week.

Because of the individualized nature of our program, results can vary dramatically from person to person. Some people come to us with coordination difficulties, some with speech deficits, some with dyscalculia or dysgraphia, some with attention focus problems. We’ve worked with adults who can’t read at all who come up to a fifth grade level or more within a week. There have been fifth graders who are reading in a struggling fashion who start at about 2-3 grade level and come up to about 5th grade. There have been both adults and children who cannot catch a ball who do so by the end of the week. Some people experience improvement in handwriting immediately, some within 6 months. Some who cannot hear or pronounce speech sounds suddenly are able to – some need to continue speech therapy but with increased rate of improvement.

Long term results of our program largely depend on how much follow-through the client does with the Davis reading exercises and Symbol Mastery of small words. The results seen in the course of a one-week program working with a licensed Facilitator need to be sustained through at-home practice.

In 1982, the Reading Research Council obtained permission from McGraw-Hill to administer their achievement tests in an untimed setting. A brief summary of the results:

A study to measure the effectiveness of the Davis procedures was conducted by the Reading Research Council between 1982 and 1984, utilizing the McGraw-Hill Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills. The study group consisted of 110 cases, 24 female and 86 males ages 6 to 61. Untimed testing was done before and after 30-40 hours of individualized counseling and instruction.

Results showed an average increase of 21 percentile points in reading scores, and 17 percentile points in language scores. Grade equivalents in both areas also increased an average of 1.8, almost two grade levels.

The Davis Experience

This program is the weirdest thing – this is working! I have undergone changes that mean I can now understand information in the paper world. It’s possible to be less angry, the feeling is like a freedom! Here we are at the end of the week, and something has worked. It feels like hope is planted in the soil. I will be responsible for furthering my paper understanding – that is no small feat!

Professional services described as Davis®, including Davis Dyslexia Correction®, Davis Symbol Mastery®, Davis Orientation Counseling®, Davis® Attention Mastery, Davis® Math Mastery, and Davis® Reading Program for Young Learners may only be provided by persons who are trained and licensed as Davis Facilitators or Specialists by Davis Dyslexia Association International.